The Story of Charles Nalle

There was a man named Charles Nalle. He was born about 1821 in
Stevensburg, Virginia. He was a fugitive slave. He escaped from slavery in Virginia in
October 1858. He came to Troy and worked for a noted industrialist, named
Uri Gilbert.

On April 27, 1860, Charles Nalle was arrested under the Fugitive
Slave Act. When Nalle was found guilty, he had to be returned back to his
owner. Nalle's owner sent a slave agent to come to Troy to pick him up. The
people in the town try to win Nalle's freedom, but the slave agent demanded
for money that the people didn't have. Harriet Tubman was in Troy the day
that Nalle was arrested. She got into the building where he was at and she
started a commotion and blocked the stairs with her body from the police.
She went to a second floor window and told the crowd to take Nalle to the
river when he came out. When the police were taking Nalle out of the
building, Harriet Tubman wrapped her hands around Nalle and told the people
to drag her and Nalle out of the building and take him to the river. They
carried Nalle to the Hudson River bank and shipped him to the other side of
the river on a ferry. When he arrived on the west side he was rearrested by Albany County
authorities.

The people went over the river on the next ferry and followed because they
wanted Nalle to be free. They were throwing stones and they seized Nalle
again. Nalle was placed on a wagon heading west and escaped to Niskayuna.
Uri Gilbert and other citizens soon purchased Nalle's freedom.

Nalle later returned to Troy to live. He got married and raised a family as
a free man. In remembrance to this event, a plaque was remounted near the
northeast corner of the former National City Bank Building.